Rise of the Shadow
by Upthethumpz1
Summary: A young student of Luke Skywalker escapes from the Knights of Ren's massacre at the Jedi Temple. She now must fight for survival and to fulfill her master's final wishes.
DISCLAIMER: This fic is set 3 years before the events of The Force Awakens, and as such, there is not a whole lot of information that is considered canon. This story may not follow the same timeline because of this, so please, just enjoy it on it's own.

PROLOGUE

Luke Skywalker fled the sound of explosions with a single purpose on his mind, and worlds worth of regret. He had not (and perhaps could not have) seen this coming, and it was now his students that were paying the price. Mere moments ago, Luke had been instructing a group of first-year younglings. "Remember," he had said to them, "as Master Yoda himself said 'The Force is my ally. And a powerful ally it is.' Your own feelings and instincts are fallible, but the will of The Force is not. Surrender yourself to it, and fill yourself with its Light, and you will always know the way forward…"

He was interrupted by the alert on his comlink. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed his class for mealtime, and stepped aside to answer. The voice on the other end trembled with uneasiness, and a wave of darkness flew over the old Jedi Master. "Master Skywalker, you'd best come to the hangar right away. A transport ship is approaching fast, and will not respond to attempts for communication. They may be badly damaged." Luke frowned and replied "Copy that. I'll be there as quickly as possible." He flipped his comlink off, but as he turned around, the walls and floor around him began to quake and there was a loud crash. With the blaster bolt reflexes that only those in tune with the Force can possess, the Jedi Master ignited his saber without thinking, and ran down the corridor toward the epicenter of the blast: the hangar.

When he arrived, it was already too late. The edge of the hangar lay in ruins, as a Lambda-class shuttle seemed to have made a controlled crash landing. The floor of the long and durasteel fortified room was littered with the dead and injured, and slippery with their blood. Blast burns smoked on the walls, and Luke's ears were filled with groans and screams. The dark presence he had felt before was only growing in his mind as the mangled shuttle's hatch slowly began to open. A door slid open with a whoosh behind Luke, and lightly armored Republic troops poured in. Aiming their rifles toward the ship's opening, the only thing anyone could see coming from the hatch was smoke. "No! Stand down!" Luke shouted, but no one heard above the noise.

Suddenly, through the clouds of smoke, six beams of light appeared, accompanied with the familiar sound of a lightsaber igniting. One Republic soldier began to open fire, and the rest quickly followed suit. But as the bolts rocketed toward the ship they stopped and hovered in the air, just in front of their targets. Six hooded figures stepped out onto the hangar platform, and one spoke in the cold, low tones of a voice modulator. "Such a waste. You would have made excellent Stormtroopers." The hovering bolts then reversed direction, striking each soldier, and killing them instantly. Luke went cold. Though the words were muffled and distorted, he knew. He had failed Ben. He had failed all of them.

Kylo Ren turned toward Luke and spoke, with his lightsaber extended before him in a ready position. "Dear Uncle" he said with mock affection, "So good of you to greet us yourself. I confess I was disappointed at your welcoming party."

"It doesn't have to be like this, Ben. No one else has to die. You do not understand the Dark Side as I do. There is only pain on the path you have chosen."

"Pain for others, perhaps. Power for me. And Ben Solo no longer exists. I am Kylo Ren, and I will rule this miserable Galaxy."

With that, one of the robed and masked people leapt high in the air, and was nearly instantly upon Luke. But there is only one Jedi master in the galaxy, and one does not earn that title lightly. Luke deflected the blow without effort. He was a conduit of the Light, and through him, the Force worked wonders. Stretching out with his mind, Luke sent a large piece of metal debris flying, and it collided with the young apprentice with a sickening crunch. "The fool." whispered Kylo, who had suddenly become enraged.

The others charged behind their apparent leader, and moved as a unit. They were clearly more disciplined. Luke attempted to counter his fear with tranquility, but he was not sure he would be surviving this fight. When the first robed man reached Luke, he began to swing wildly and swiftly. Luke struck away the blade, and went in for his own attack, which severed both of his opponent's gloved hands. Before he felt anything however, the older Jedi had thrust forward, and run his saber directly through his heart. This seemed to dishearten the remaining Knights of Ren, because they now moved and struck much more cautiously. As he batted away each attack, Luke knew he could not keep this up much longer. Fatigue, which had never seemed to plague him before, now wracked through his body. Luke Skywalker was more weary than he had ever been in his life.

The end came quickly afterward. Kylo Ren's red hilted sword had dealt a glancing blow to Luke's shoulder, which caused him to drop his own lightsaber. Feeling enveloped in dark energies, his airway began to close, and his body rose from the floor and hovered directly in front of the man who had once been his favorite pupil. Him and his friends had left the temple months earlier, and renounced their master's teachings to make their own way in the galaxy. Luke had wished them well, but in the end, they had gone. Now to see them so full of hate, and rage, and the dark side was like witnessing the destruction of a planet. Ren tightened his Force grip around Luke's throat. "Fear not, Uncle. No one here will die in vein. You taught me well, and now I will continue where your father left off. Your time is over." said Ren. Summoning all of his anger at his uncle and all of the teachings of the Jedi, he flung Luke across the room. He hit hard against a wall, and crumbled. Somewhere inside of Kylo Ren, Ben Solo grieved and lamented his choices. But Supreme Leader had taught that the Dark Side will drown your identity, and raise it anew, and so he tried with little success to settle his mind.

In a daze, the Jedi Master awoke to the sound of blasters and shouting. He sat up and saw that R2-D2 had found him, and had been attempting to awaken him. Luke scanned the hangar, and was surprised to see that his X-Wing remained undamaged. He knew that he had done all he could, and that everyone else in the temple had likely been killed or captured. Every part of him screamed in agony, and for the first time, he lamented his aging body. Just then, he heard a shout from across the hangar toward the opening. "Master Skywalker!" cried a young girl's voice, and Luke was surprised to see young Jessa Varless, who had been brought to the temple only a few months prior. She was 14, with piercing blue eyes, and brown hair braided in the traditional style of the Padawan learner. She wore brown robes, and she ran toward her master with a desperate speed. "Come," he said with a wheeze, and a strained voice. "Board my fighter. I'm getting you out of here." but even as he said this, a squadron of Stormtroopers burst into the room, and opened fire on the master and learner. They deflected a few of the bolts, until Jessa began to notice that they were not coming near her anymore. "Go!" shouted Luke. "Find Maz Kanata, and give her this!" He tossed his lightsaber in her direction, and she snatched it from the air. She watched as Luke reached his hand toward a blaster rifle, and fired two bolts into the chest of the nearest soldier. "Go, now!"

Coming out of hyperspace, Jessa sighed and tried to calm her mind. Everyone she knew was dead, and she didn't have the first clue as to who this Maz Kanata was that Master Skywalker wanted her to find. Was he even alive now? She wondered if it wouldn't be more prudent to seek out General Organa and warn her. The young Padawan wasn't even sure if anyone else made it. She reached out with her feelings, and felt the Force respond. The answer was clear. She would seek out Kanata, and fulfill her master's wishes, whether he lived or not. Suddenly, the alarm cried shrilly and a voice from Jessa's headpiece said "This is the First Order Star Destroyer _Victory._ You are hereby ordered to power down, or you will be destroyed."


End file.
